English 112 – Research Paper Check List
Do not type a cover page. Be sure to have a proper MLA heading. See the bottom of the syllabus. Your last name and page number should be in the upper right hand corner of each page (this includes the Works Cited page).
Capitalize the first letter of the words in your title (unless they are conjunctions or prepositions). There should be no period at the end of your title.
The entire essay must be typed in Times New Roman, 12 font, and it must be double spaced. This includes the heading. Also, your paper must be printed on white paper, with black ink. The words must be legible. If your paper is difficult to read because of fading ink, it will result in a grade down.
Be sure to check your essay in a Word program that underlines grammar issues in green and misspelled words in red. It will also indicate if there is too much space in between words and if commas and periods are in the right place. Failure to do this will result in your paper being graded down.
There must be in text citations in your paper. All in text citations must be fully cited on your Works Cited page. This means that within your paper, you will write the author’s name and page number (or whatever the proper citation is for that source) in connection with the quotation. For example: Wordsworth states that Romantic poetry was marked by a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (263). Or, if you don’t introduce the author: Romantic poetry is characterized by the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth 263). Or if you paraphrase, which means put the information of the article in your own words: Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).
When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name. Place the title in quotation marks if it’s a short work (such as an article) and provide a page number if it is available. For example: We see so many global warming hotspots in North America likely because this region has “more readily accessible climatic data and more comprehensive programs to monitor and study environmental change” (“Impact of Global Warming”). The entry on the Works Cited page would be:
“The Impact of Global Warming in North America.” Global Warming: Early Signs. 1999.
http://www.climatehotmap.org/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2009.
There are times when a source doesn’t have page numbers, such as webpages. In that case, you can use the last name in the parentheses. An in-text citation for a webpage might look like: Many experts believe that “Cupcakes are the best dessert in the world” (Smith). For sources with no page numbers, if you introduce the article and the author, you do not need to put a citation in the parentheses. For example: In Jacob Smith’s article “Cupcakes,” Chef Jane Doe says that “cupcakes are the best dessert in the world.”
For a source with three or more authors, list only the first author’s last name, and replace the additional names with et al. Et al means and others. For example: According to Franck et al., “Current agricultural policies in the U.S. are contributing to the poor health of Americans” (327). Or: The authors claim that one cause of obesity in the United States is government-funded farm subsidies (Franck et al. 327). The Works Cited entry would be:
Franck, Caroline, et al. “Agricultural Subsidies and the American Obesity
Epidemic.” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, vol. 45, no. 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 327-333.
If you want to use a quote from an article, but the quote is note from the author of that article, it is called an indirect quotation. This is how you cite it: An environmental group’s president, Glenn Prickett, made the following observation about arriving by plane in a remote Amazon village: “Touching down on the grass landing strip we were met by the entire village in traditional dress — and undress — and painted faces, with a smattering of American baseball caps bearing random logos” (qtd. in Friedman 30). Friedman is the author, but Glen Prickett is quoted inside Friedman’s article. You still have to give Friedman credit.
If you omit a word or words from a quotation, you should indicate the deleted word or words by using ellipsis marks, which are three periods . . . preceded and followed by a space. For example: In an essay on urban legends, Jan Harold
Brunvand notes that “some individuals make a point of learning every recent rumor or tale . . . and in a short time a lively exchange of details occurs” (78).
You are not required to use a long quotation. However, if you do, you can use only two and they must be written correctly. See sample MLA paper on Blackboard in the Multimedia link.
You must use at least four academic sources for your research paper. You will have two academic articles, a reading that you will choose from Course Materials, and a Youtube video or Tedtalk. Be sure to use the Purdue Owl link to see how to cite each type of source you use: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/2/. You must discuss the reading in the fourth and fifth paragraph of your paper. You will have one quotation from the reading in your fourth paragraph, and one quotation in your fifth.
Also, note that you cannot use Wikipedia or About.com, or Ask.com, or any blog as a source.
For your Works Cited page, remember that the words Works Cited must be centered on the page. The words should not be capitalized, underlined or typed in bold. Your last name and page number must be in the upper right hand corner. The Works Cited should be alphabetized. Remember that for each entry, every line after the first line should be indented. See the Works Cited on the Sample MLA paper.
Your paper should be written in the third person. There should be no use of Me, My or I. Also, do not write in the second person which is “You”. You must discuss your article from your news source, in the fourth and fifth paragraph. You will include one quotation from the article in your fourth and one in your fifth paragraph.
You need to include a counterargument paragraph in the 7
th paragraph of your paper. You know how to do this because you did so in the Argumentative Essay. In that paragraph you will argue against your thesis statement. For example, imagine that the thesis statement says, Affirmative Action assists in closing the wage gap between minorities and whites in the workplace. In the counterargument paragraph you would write: Detractors of Affirmative Action believe that the policy is actually reverse discrimination. They also posit that it does not allow for people to be evaluated based on meritocracy. You could make two more points and then you will write: However, what they do not consider is…then you will bring it back to your argument with at least two strong points.
In the 8th paragraph, you will include your Youtube or Tedtalk. Here is the way you cite a video: In-text citation with author: (Last name, 00:01:15 – 00:02:00). In-text citation with no author: (“Title of video,” 00:01:15 – 00:02:00).
On the last day of our class, upload a copy of your paper to Blackboard by 11:59 pm.
*Final note, do not wait to the last minute to upload your paper, as things tend to go wrong when you are rushing. Save your paper in at least three ways: 1) Save it on a flash drive. 2) Email it to yourself and if need be, a friend. 3) Print out a hard copy of every version of your paper.
We need 4 sources .. it have to be 2 articles a video and 1 news source
My research title is Is gun control an effective way to control gun related deaths in the United States? or
-Will stricter gun control laws help minimize crimes
Or
-Is gun control a good approach for reducing crime?
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Do not type a cover page. Be sure to hav appeared first on Skilled Papers.
